A GROUP OF TEN ANCIENT WESTERN ASIATIC SEALS AND BEADS, 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM BC
A GROUP OF TEN ANCIENT WESTERN ASIATIC SEALS AND BEADS, 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM BC
Comprising an amethyst cylinder seal carved with winged horses standing foursquare, some with wings raised and others grazing, the stone with pyrite inclusions; four carnelian stamp seals and beads, three incised with stylized scorpions and the fourth with an ox; three banded agate stamp seals and beads, each carved on the flattened side with a worshiper before a brazier, a recumbent ox, and a date palm; an agate bead incised with the head of an ibex; and a calcified hardstone bead carved with a stylized bird on the flattened side. (10)
Provenance: From the collection of Paolo Bertuzzi. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother's business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out together with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, signs of weathering and erosion, natural imperfections, small nicks, tiny chips. The stones with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 81.4 g (total)
Dimensions: Length 3.1 cm (the largest)
Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. These cylinder seals, first used in Mesopotamia, served as a mark of ownership or identification. Seals were either impressed on lumps of clay that were used to close jars, doors, and baskets, or they were rolled onto clay tablets that recorded information about commercial or legal transactions. The seals were often made of precious stones. Protective properties may have been ascribed to both the material itself and the carved designs. Seals are important to the study of ancient Near Eastern art because many examples survive from every period and can, therefore, help to define chronological phases. Often preserving imagery no longer extant in any other medium, they serve as a visual chronicle of style and iconography.
Literature comparison:
Compare an Assyrian chalcedony cylinder seal carved with a winged horse, dated ca. 14th-13th century BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1999.325.89. Compare a Sassanian agate stamp seal incised with the image of a scorpion, 1.6 cm wide, dated 3rd-7th century, in the British Museum, accession number 140634.
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A GROUP OF TEN ANCIENT WESTERN ASIATIC SEALS AND BEADS, 2ND-1ST MILLENNIUM BC
Comprising an amethyst cylinder seal carved with winged horses standing foursquare, some with wings raised and others grazing, the stone with pyrite inclusions; four carnelian stamp seals and beads, three incised with stylized scorpions and the fourth with an ox; three banded agate stamp seals and beads, each carved on the flattened side with a worshiper before a brazier, a recumbent ox, and a date palm; an agate bead incised with the head of an ibex; and a calcified hardstone bead carved with a stylized bird on the flattened side. (10)
Provenance: From the collection of Paolo Bertuzzi. Paolo Bertuzzi (1943-2022) was a fashion stylist from Bologna, Italy. He was the son of Enrichetta Bertuzzi, founder of Hettabretz, a noted Italian fashion company with customers such as the Rothschild family, Audrey Hepburn, and Elizabeth Taylor. Paolo Bertuzzi later took over his mother's business and designed exclusive pieces, some of which were exhibited in the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum in New York, USA. He was also an avid collector of antiques for more than 60 years. His collection includes both archaic and contemporary art, and he edited two important books about Asian art, Goa Made - An Archaeological Discovery, about a large-scale archaeological project carried out together with the Italian and Indonesian governments, and Majapahit, Masterpieces from a Forgotten Kingdom.
Condition: Good condition, commensurate with age. Ancient wear, signs of weathering and erosion, natural imperfections, small nicks, tiny chips. The stones with natural fissures, some of which may have developed into small hairline cracks.
Weight: 81.4 g (total)
Dimensions: Length 3.1 cm (the largest)
Although engraved stones had been used as early as the seventh millennium B.C. to stamp impressions in clay, the invention in the fourth millennium B.C. of carved cylinders that could be rolled over clay allowed the development of more complex seal designs. These cylinder seals, first used in Mesopotamia, served as a mark of ownership or identification. Seals were either impressed on lumps of clay that were used to close jars, doors, and baskets, or they were rolled onto clay tablets that recorded information about commercial or legal transactions. The seals were often made of precious stones. Protective properties may have been ascribed to both the material itself and the carved designs. Seals are important to the study of ancient Near Eastern art because many examples survive from every period and can, therefore, help to define chronological phases. Often preserving imagery no longer extant in any other medium, they serve as a visual chronicle of style and iconography.
Literature comparison:
Compare an Assyrian chalcedony cylinder seal carved with a winged horse, dated ca. 14th-13th century BC, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, accession number 1999.325.89. Compare a Sassanian agate stamp seal incised with the image of a scorpion, 1.6 cm wide, dated 3rd-7th century, in the British Museum, accession number 140634.
